Frozen yogurt shop may open by early December

GREENFIELD — It has been popular on the West Coast for the past decade and an entire “Seinfeld” episode revolved around it.

Now, it will be served at WOW frozen yogurt on Federal Street in Greenfield beginning sometime in early December, if all goes well.

Two South Hadley men, Dan Whalen and Rich Wilson, are renovating the building that sits between CVS and the auto repair shop on Federal Street and hope to open WOW by Dec. 1. The building was once occupied by an auto parts store and most recently by a video game store.

“Our business is not a chain,” said Wilson. “It’s going to be a self-serve frozen yogurt shop where we’ll rotate 50 flavors by offering eight per day.”

Wilson said they will offer 50 toppings, which will include fresh fruit, candy, nuts and sauces.

He and Whalen said they will serve regular, low-fat, low-calorie, nonfat, dairy-free and no-sugar frozen yogurt.

Wilson said the yogurt will contain live cultures.

“It’s all about probiotics,” he said, referring to the beneficial active yeast cultures found in most yogurts. “This is going to be delicious and healthy.”

The two men, who have been friends for 25 years, said they have always wanted to go into business together.

“We did the research and followed the business model,” said Wilson. “This is what we wanted to do and now it’s happening. How can you not want to start a business where your customers are always smiling? It’s going to be a happy place.”

WOW will occupy 1,200 square feet of the building on the north side and the men will rent the other 1,200 square feet at some point.

Free parking will be located on the north side of the building and in front of the building in two spots on Federal Street.

The men purchased the building with the help of Robbie Cohn, owner of Cohn & Co. Real Estate Agency in Greenfield.

They said they have been working with town inspectors as they renovate the building and bring it up to code.